Your right to appeal!

The planning system is shrouded in “legal speak and technicality” leaving many people under the impression that an appeal is a costly and complex process that is out of their reach. This is not always the case.

Over the past three years there have been in excess of 22,000 planning appeals per year against the refusal of planning permission. On average 32% are successful resulting in the appeal being upheld and the decision being overturned. However, whilst the number of planning appeals made may seem significant, they only represent a small proportion of the planning refusals issued by Councils in the UK. With this number of appeals and the average success being one in three, there is an obvious indication of the benefit of considering an appeal against the decisions routinely made by Councils.

The Council’s decision does not have to be final and circumstances other than a refusal, such as onerous conditions or restrictions, can also be appealed. However, time is of the essence as there is a restricted period within which an appeal can be made, which is six months from the date of the decision notice to refuse or 12 weeks in the case of Householder Applications. In order to achieve the best chance of success an appeal needs to be made early. It is also beneficial to consider engaging professional help as the legal requirements and technical language utilised by the planning authorities, if you are unaccustomed to it, may be confusing. That confusion can lead to an appeal being dismissed rather than allowed.

There are three types of appeal, Public Inquiry, Hearing or Written Representations. If your appeal is to progress to either Public Inquiry or Hearing options, then the input is greater and will be reflected in the cost.

There may be further information that you would wish to be considered by an Inspector and if so this should also be included in the paper submission.

An appeal decision following a site visit can take up to three months from the visit. Whilst there are no guarantees of gaining permission on an appeal your chances of success are greatly improved by engaging an appeals specialist.